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Join us to kick off the new year and hear Dr. Eli Capilouto, President, University of Kentucky Dr. Eli Capilouto became the 12th President of the University of Kentucky on July 1, 2011. Under his leadership, the Commonwealth's flagship and land grant research university has grown from $2.7 billion to nearly $8.6 billion in total operations and has gained significant momentum in advancing Kentucky – the institution’s singular yet multifaceted mission. Since 2011, President Capilouto has led a nearly $7.6 billion transformation of the campus, aimed at enriching the living-learning experience of UK's students, ensuring their success; strengthening the university's research [...]

William Shakespeare famously noted in his play As You Like It that “All the world’s a stage.”  Performing for us today on the Rotary “stage” are Lyndy Franklin Smith and Jeremy Smith, co-founders and producing directors of The Lexington Theatre Company (The Lex).  Lyndy and Jeremy (who play a happily married couple in real life!) co-founded The Lex as a way to give back to the community and to the theatre industry. Lyndy enjoyed a successful performance career in New York, appearing in the Broadway companies of A Chorus Line and The Little Mermaid; the Radio City Christmas Spectacular; National Tours [...]

Kenny Brooks, who was chosen as the 2025 Sporting News National Coach of the Year, was named the ninth head coach of the University of Kentucky women’s basketball program on March 26, 2024. He enters his sec­ond season as the Wildcats’ head coach in 2025-26, while he enters his 24th season overall as a head coach. Boasting a 540-212 (.718) career record through 23 seasons as a head coach across his times at James Madi­son, Virginia Tech, and Kentucky, Brooks has compiled five Colonial Athletic Association Tournament titles, four CAA regular-season titles, one Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title, one ACC regular-season [...]

Data from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES; 2022) indicate that bullying and cyberbullying victimization is commonplace for adolescents in the United States today, with approximately 20% experiencing bullying and over 50% cyberbullying during their lifetime. Today’s guest speaker, Professor Alexander T. Vazsonyi, Ph.D., from the University of Kentucky, will lecture on From Hurt to Hope: Can we build bully-free communities in Kentucky and beyond?   An expert on adolescent development with a scholarly record of over 170 peer-reviewed publications, including extensive work on bullying, cyberbullying, and violent behaviors among children and adolescents, Dr. Vazsonyi will spend time (1) defining the [...]

“Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.”  Benjamin Franklin in 1779  Mention Kentucky and many things likely come to mind:  thoroughbred horses, bourbon and basketball.  But not wine.  Today’s speaker, Philip A. DeSimone, MD, might take exception to that and at the very least is trying to change that perception. DeSimone is an owner of Grimes Mill Winery, located on Grimes Mill Road in Fayette County, Kentucky.    The Grimes Mill Winery web [...]

MITCH BARNHART WAS UNABLE TO ATTEND DUE TO ILLNESS. THE CLUB WAS FORTUNATE TO HEAR FROM MARC HILL, THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY. Rotary in Review  UK ATHLETICS AND THE CHANGING WORLD OF INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS  It is a familiar sight in sports:  the star athlete goes down with an injury and an eager substitute gets thrown into the action on short notice and saves the day.  Such was the case at our Club meeting two weeks ago, as Marc Hill, Deputy Director of Athletics at the University of Kentucky, spoke in place of scheduled speaker UK’s [...]